[Bhadravudha:]I entreat the one who is very intelligent, released, unperturbed — who has abandoned home, abandoned delight, abandoned resemblances, cut through craving, crossed over the flood.

Having heard the Great One, they will leave — the many gathered from many lands, hero, in hope of your words. So tell them, please, how this Dhamma has been known to you.

[The Buddha:]Subdue craving & clinging — all — above, below, across, in between. [1] For whatever people cling to in the world, it's through that that Mara pursues them.

So a monk, mindful, seeing these people clinging to entanglement as entangled in Death's realm, should cling to nothing in all the world, every world.

Note

1. Nd.II gives six different valid interpretations for "above, below, across, in between": * above = the future; below = the past; across and in between = the present * above = the deva world; below = hell; across and in between = the human world * above = skillfulness; below = unskillfulness; across and in between = indeterminate mental qualities * above = the property of formlessness; below = the property of sensuality; across and in between = the property of form * above = feelings of pleasure; below = feelings of pain; across and in between = feelings of neither pleasure nor pain * above = the body from the feet on up; below = the body from the crown of the head on down; across and in between = the middle of the body

The home-leaver, the craving-cutter, the unmoved one, said venerable Bhadràvudha. the enjoyment-leaver, the flood-crosser, the free one,the speculation-leaver, the intelligent one - (him) I beg,after hearing the Strong One, they will go away from here.

Various people have come from the countries,and are waiting for your saying, O hero,you must explain (the Teaching) properly to them,for this Teaching has been understood by you.

You must remove all attachment to craving, Bhadràvudha, said the Gracious One,above, below, and across the middle,for with whatever they are attached to in the world,with just that Màra follows a man.

Therefore knowing (this), the mindful monk shouldnot be attached to anything in the whole world,seeing that with what is called attachment to clinging,these people are clinging to the realm of Death.

Let us remind ourselves of the relevant section of a verse inthe Bhadrāvudhamāṇavappucchā of the Pārāyanavagga of theSutta Nipāta:

Yaṃ yaṃ hi lokasmiṃ upādiyanti,ten' eva Māro anveti jantuṃ.

"Whatever thing they grasp in this world,By that itself Māra pursues a man."

Because of grasping, there is becoming or existence andwith it birth, decay and death, etc., follow suit, all due to crav-ing. That is the deep idea behind the Buddha's definition of thefive grasping groups in terms of Māra.

Once, when the Buddha was admonishing the monks witha sermon on Nibbāna, it occurred to Māra, the Evil One: "Nowthis recluse Gotama is admonishing the monks and the monksare listening attentively. I must go and blind their eye of wis-dom." With this evil intention, he came there in the guise of afarmer, carrying a plough on his shoulder, a goad in his hand,with dishevelled hair and muddy feet, and asked the Buddha:"Recluse, did you see my oxen?" Then the Buddha retorted:"What is the use of oxen for you, Evil One?" Māra understoodthat the Buddha had recognized him and came out with the fol-lowing boast of his superiority:

"Mine, O recluse, is the eye, mine are the forms and minethe sphere of eye-contact, where will you, recluse, go to escapeme?Mine, O recluse, is the ear ... Mine, O recluse is the nose ...Mine, O recluse is the tongue ... Mine, O recluse is the body ...Mine, O recluse is the mind, mine are the mind-objects andmine the sphere of mind-contact, where will you, recluse, go toescape me?"

"Yours, O Evil One, is the eye, yours are the forms andyours the sphere of eye-contact, but where there is no eye, noforms and no sphere of eye-contact, there you cannot go, EvilOne.Yours, Evil One, is the ear ... Yours, Evil One, is the nose ...Yours, Evil One, is the tongue ... Yours, Evil One, is the body...Yours, Evil One, is the mind, yours are the mind-objects andyours the sphere of mind-contact, but where there is no mind, nomind-objects and no sphere of mind-contact, there you cannotgo, Evil One."

From the Buddha's reprisal to Māra's challenge, we can wellinfer that there indeed is a place to which Māra has no access.That is none other than the cessation of the six sense-spheres.Since it is something realizable, it is referred to as a `sphere'in such contexts as, for instance, in the discourse on Nibbānabeginning with the words atthi, bhikkhave, tad āyatanaṃ,[Ud 8.1 http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.8.01.irel.html]"there is, monks, that sphere", etc.